Katrina Anniversary: Obama Plans to Campaign in Va. While Isaac Lands in La.

(CNSNews.com) – The White House announced on Monday that President Barack Obama plans to campaign in Charlottesville, Va., on Wednesday--the day the National Hurricane Center predicts Hurricane Isaac will hit the Gulf Coast.

Wednesday, Aug. 29, is also the seventh anniversary of the day that Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast in 2005.

According to the center, Tropical Storm Isaac is predicted to become a Category One Hurricane by Monday night and will make landfall along the Louisiana and Mississippi coastline late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

According to the center, Isaac will have maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour with storm surges up to 12 feet.

National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service fall under the umbrella of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning at 1:42 p.m. CDT for New Orleans, stating that Isaac was strengthening and becoming more organized. It advised New Orleans residents to "rush to completion of preparations for the protection of life and property. Evacuate if directed to do so by local officials ... or if your home is vulnerable to high winds or flooding."

Isaac "is currently forecast to make landfall as a Category One hurricane near the southwest pass of the Mississippi River Tuesday night," said the warning.

The warning had not been updated at the time of publication.

On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans with 90 mph sustained winds, according to the weather service. The storm surge caused levees to fail, and more than 1,800 people died.

On Monday, the White House also released a news release on Obama’s briefing with Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Rick Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center.

“During the briefing, the President directed Administrator Fugate to make sure FEMA continues to coordinate closely with state and local officials in potentially impacted states and address the needs of local communities as the storm approaches,” the news release said.

The release states that FEMA has deployed teams to Florida and Louisiana ahead of the storm to support state and local preparations, and that the Obama administration is “in communication with Alabama and Mississippi and other southeastern states that could be impacted.”

Following the briefing, Obama spoke with Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who has decided not to speak at the GOP National Convention taking place in Tampa this week.

“The President told the Governor the people of Florida are in his thoughts during this time,” the release states.

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